Duterte eyes road tax for Manila Bay rehab

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte is considering using the Road Users’ Tax to fund the cleanup and rehabilitation of Manila Bay, which he wants to be completed by the end of his term, a Palace official said yesterday.

The President wants the cleanup to start immediately, presidential spokesman and chief legal adviser Salvador Panelo said.

The cleanup of Manila Bay would follow the rehabilitation of Boracay Island, which opened last October after being off-limits to visitors for six months.

The money would be taken from the P46-billion road users’ tax. To make this happen, Panelo said the Road Board would have to be abolished and its collections returned to the National Treasury.

Congress will then enact another law appropriating the funds for specific purposes such as the bay’s cleanup, Panelo said.

He said while no timeline was given for the rehabilitation of Manila Bay, “hopefully at the end of (the President’s) term, tapos na iyan (it is complete).”

Funding

Panelo said the cleanup would start as soon as funds from the Road Users’ Tax are made available. This would be “sooner than expected” since the Senate and Lower House have agreed that the Road Board should be abolished, he said.

Panelo refused to say how much of Manila Bay will be cleaned up by next year since many establishments would be affected by the project. Businesses and persons dumping waste into the bay or its tributaries would be penalized.

The first to be cleaned up would be the esteros or canals and rivers going to Manila Bay, he said.

The Manila Bay cleanup would reportedly take as long as seven years and require P47 billion in funding.

Panelo said that just like what happened in Boracay, they expect resistance from stakeholders once the cleanup starts but “along the way (they) would understand.”

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the lead agency in the cleanup, said it would welcome any form of support from the government.

DENR Undersecretary Benny Antiporda said with the available funding from the DENR and the government, “as well as financial help from the private sector, then we are hopeful for positive results in this endeavor.”

DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leones said members of the inter-agency task force assigned to oversee the cleanup will meet on Jan. 15 to discuss the budget and specific commitments of each government agency.  – With Rhodina Villanueva